Christian Bale is in line to play Steve Jobs in the forthcoming biopic to be directed by David Fincher and written by Aaron Sorkin, reports the Wrap.

Bale, recently Oscar nominated for American Hustle, is Fincher's first choice for the role in a film seen very much as a companion-piece to the Fincher-Sorkin tech-study The Social Network.

According to the Wrap, Fincher made it a condition of his accepting the task of directing the film that producing studio Sony secure Bale for the lead. Studio co-chair Amy Pascal previously worked with Fincher on The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and is believed to be happy to go along with his demand.

The long-gestating project will take a different approach to its subject than that of The Social Network: Sorkin suggested in 2012 that it will revolve around three long scenes, each dealing with a different product launch. The poor performance of the recent film Jobs, a biopic of the Apple co-founder starring Ashton Kutcher, does not appear to have dented confidence in this one.

Bale, who has just finished work on Ridley Scott's biblical epic Exodus, has not yet been formally approached to play Jobs.